Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate -> Starting January 19th, 2024

[Alaina]

In this stunning and propulsive debut, a town grieves the loss of a young girl—but some fight to keep the truth about her death a secret. For fans of Jane Harper, Ashley Flowers, and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.

The question

For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe? If he'd called sooner, she might still be alive.

The secret

As the anniversary of Phoebe's death approaches, Grant is consumed by memories of that night on the bridge and everything he lost: his future, his reputation, his little sister. And the secret he's been keeping all these years is suffocating him. But he and Phoebe weren't the only ones in the car that night. Becca was there. She knows what happened—and she will do anything to help Grant keep his secret.

The truth

Everyone in West Wilmer remembers Phoebe, but only June remembers that another person was lost that night. Her brother Wyatt has been missing for ten years and now June is alone—no family, no friends. Until someone appears at her door. Someone who may know where Wyatt went all those years ago. Someone who knows what really happened on the bridge that night. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

Taking place over three days and culminating in a shocking twist that will leave you breathless, Twenty-Seven Minutes is a gripping story about what happens when grief becomes unbearable, dark secrets are unearthed, and the horrifying truth is revealed.

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

I feel like I know 35-pages in exactly what happened the night Phoebe Dean died. I hope I'm wrong, but...

[Haley]

Going to start this in an hour or so :)

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

Haley wrote: "Going to start this in an hour or so :)"Yayee!! It's interesting so far, I just made it to page 48 in my e-copy and I am happy to report, I was wrong. See earlier update. I thought I had it figured out, but I definitely don't 😅

[Haley]

19% (view spoiler)[

Okay so we have 4 main characters:
Grant who has built over not helping Phoebe deal with their mother

Becca: might be the reason behind the crash? Seems like she’s fixated on the relationship with grant & grant seems to not care as much

June: waiting to see how she fits into the story. From my understanding her brother Wyatt went missing the same day as the crash and no one cared to notice

Wyatt: maybe he was involved in the crash indirectly? When running away from home??

So far liking it tho! Even if it’s kinda slow at first (hide spoiler)]

[Haley]

37% (view spoiler)[

Oooofff these character dynamics…

Wyatt’s character still confuses me, unsure what he’s going to bring into the plot?? Also how he mentioned he might tie his sister to the chair??? What the heck, of course June is going to question you! You’ve been gone for 10 years, I don’t like or trust him.

Becca sounds like a stalker… & overanalyzes the relationship with men?? Sounds like she’s been stuck on Grant for 10 years, holy geez that’s a long time.

Grant is starting to hallucinate oof… & I love that June was snippy with Becca AHA. What was becca expecting?? (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

25%: (view spoiler)[Is Wyatt alive? Hahaha 😆 I know this dounds weird, but doesn't the description of him sound like he might actually be a ghost or something. Maybe June has lost it... (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

Haley wrote: "19%...you're farther than me now, but initially I was thinking (view spoiler)[they had hit Wyatt and killed him and hid the body, which was why they waited 27 minutes to call for help, but then Wyatt showed up, so obviously that can't be true, but isn't he acting so strange? Like won't even give June an explanation as to where he's been!? And Becca is definitely obsessed with Grant in not a healthy way. Maybe she found out Grant and Phoebe were planning to move away and did something to stop them... (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

44%: (view spoiler)[All of these relationships are soooooo f*ed up!!! Like there's obviously something off about Becca and Grant is clearly taking advantage of that and manipulating her. Also, Wyatt!? What the frick, you stroll back to town after 10-years and treat your sister this way? No answers!? Also though, when they described his nails, I seriously feel like he dug himself out of a grave or something. Like is he really alive? (hide spoiler)]

[Haley]

megs_bookrack wrote: "Haley wrote: "19%...you're farther than me now, but initially I was thinking [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[

ooo that's a good thought with Wyatt!! I even thought maybe they thought Wyatt was a deer while driving home that night? *because they were drinking* and avoided him but ended up in the accident?

and maybe Wyatt saw what happened and disappeared too?? but that doesn't make too much sense of why he was gone for 10 years??

I could definitely see Becca trying to stop the both of them. (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

67%: (view spoiler)[Becca is not right in the head. And OMG, Harley and Grant were hooking up!? That definitely would have pushed Phoebe off the deep end! (hide spoiler)]

[Haley]

megs_bookrack wrote: "67%: [spoilers removed]"

Nooo she’s not doing well at all! Created a false narrative in her head

(view spoiler)[ also I,m starting to agree with you about Wyatt being dead... it almost seems like he’s rotting??

I DIDNT SEE THAT COMING with Harley and grant, man he slept with practically anyone (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

Haley wrote: "megs_bookrack wrote: "67%: [spoilers removed]"

Nooo she’s not doing well at all! Created a false narrative in her... Right!? I am at 82% now and Wyatt just had the (view spoiler)[vision of himself as the vulture!? He's definitely dead right? Because June has the idea of certain birds, cardinals initially, being a dead loved one visiting you, but a vulture would definitely be more fitting to Wyatt's personality. Also, I think he is going to tell her the truth of that night. (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

87.5%: (view spoiler)[wow, okay, things just definitely came to a head with Grant and Becca. So she's made up even more than I thought... (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

Finished! I really enjoyed this one. Definitely a Literary Suspense versus a Thriller, but it was really well written. Loved the small town feel and all the messy, damaged relationships and characters! A great debut!

[Haley]

megs_bookrack ((traveling...limited access)) wrote: "Haley wrote: "megs_bookrack wrote: "67%: [spoilers removed]"

Nooo she’s not doing well at all! Created a false narrative in her... Right!? I am at 82% now and Wyatt just had the [spoilers removed]"

Honestly I wouldn't have guessed that Wyatt was (view spoiler)[ dead until you mentioned it!! but it made COMPLETE sense!! Things weren't adding up if he was alive and just happened to show up after their mom passed away. (hide spoiler)]

agree with it being more of a literary suspense vs thriller! I was between 3 and 4 stars just because of the slow pace and build up, but the ending really had me with (view spoiler)[ June becoming emotional about Wyatt (hide spoiler)]

[megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))]

Haley wrote: "megs_bookrack ((traveling...limited access)) wrote: "Haley wrote: "megs_bookrack wrote: "67%: [spoilers removed]"

Nooo she’s not doing well at all! Created a false narrative in her... Right!? I am..."I waffled on the rating too, but I actually still think about it, so definitely 4 feels correct. I finally put my review up! LOL